Button-fastening machine



(No Model.)

6 Sheets-Sheet 1. A. H. GLEASON. BUTTON FASTENING MACHINE.

Patented Dec. 20

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Qmitmeooea (No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. H. GLEASON. BUTTON FASTENING MACHINE.

No. 375,149. Patented Dec. 20, 1887.

qwitwaoaeo (No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 3.

A. GL'EASON. BUTTON FASTENING MACHINE.

No. 375,149. Patented Dec. 20', 1887.

W1 tmeooea avwamtoz n. Pt'rzni Phawun mr. wavinnmpic 6 Sheets-+Shget 4.V

A. H. GLEASON.

BUTTON FASTENING MACHINE.

(No Model.)

No. 375,149. Patented Dec. 20, 1887.

N, PETERS. Phclo-Lilhugraphnr, Washington, n.c.

(No Model.)

' 6'Sheets-Sl1eet 5. A. GLEASON BUTTON FASTENING MACHINE.

" Patehted Dec. 20, 1887.

N. PETERS, Pnuwulhu pen Waahingion. n. c,

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 6.

A. H. GLEASON.

BUTTON FASTENING MACHINE. No. 375,149. Patented Dec. 20, 1887.

iii:

I I r Ya? A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT H. GLEASON, OF VVABASH,INDIANA.

BUTTON-FASTENING MACHINE.

FSPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 375,119, datedDecember 20, 1887.

Application filed September 9, 1857. Serial No. 2lilfl18. (No model.)

To all whom it'may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT I-I. GLEASON, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at \Vabash, in the county of \Vabash and State ofIndiana, have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsiuButton-Fastening Machines, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to mechanism for se curing eye-shank buttons toshoes and like articles by means of metallic fasteners'which areclinched on the under side of the fabric.

The object of my invention is to produce a machine of this class whichwill feed-a continuous wire through the eye of the button, cut offalength of wire on an angle, so as to give the staple pointed ends, bendthewire to form the staple, drive the staple downward 1 then clearlypointed out in the claims.

. Figure 1 of the drawings is a front elevation of my machine. Fig. 2 isa side elevation from the left of the machine, with buttonfeedingmechanism omitted, illustrating the mechanism for. operating the plungerand the knife. Fig. 3 is a side elevation from the right of the machine,on a smaller scale, showing the treadle mechanism and the tensiondevice.

Fig. 4 is a detail front view showing the mannor of adjusting thetrcadle. Fig. 5is a broken front elevation of the machine enlarged,showing the loop forming and clinching dies,'the manner of hinging themto the pluuger,and the parts with which they coact. Fig. 6 is a verticalsection taken on the line a." :r, Fig. 5, showing the loop forming andclinching dies elevated and abut-ton in position on the bending-block.Fig.7is a like vertical section showing the dies depressed, with thefirst button down on r the anvil and another button in position on xthebending-block. Fig. 8 is a broken front perspective view of theguide-plates from the front. Fig. 11 is a perspective view of saidplates from the rear. Fig. 12 is a horizontal section taken on the line3 9 of Fig. 10, showing, also, the position of the knife when severingthe wire. Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a portion of the knife. Fig.1 1 is a broken rear elevation of the machine, illustrating thebutton-feeding mechanism, with one button (in dotted lines) resting onthe bending-block and another button ready to be forced down into saidblock by the feed'finger attached to the plunger. Fig. 15 is ahorizontal section taken on thelinezz,Fig.14,showing thebuttontrough.Fig. 16 is a detail perspective view of the bending-block andbendingdie, witha button and wire on the block, the wire, when bent toform the staple, being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 17 is a perspectiveview of the cap-plate. Fig. 18 is a detail perspective View showing theloop forming and clinching dies as they are about to act on the staple.Fig. 19 is a detail front view of said dies in the act of forming theloop and clinching the staple.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the treadle-frame, from whichrises ahoilow standard, B,to the top of which is secured the table 0. Tothe top of the table, inline with standard B, is secured ashort hollowflanged standard, B, to a lug, b, on the flange of which is attached ananvil, D, and at the top of standard B, formed integral therewith, is arightangularly bent bracket, B to which certain parts of the machine,hereinafter mentioned, are secured.

E represents a reciprocating rod, which plays through standard B and thetable and in the upper end of standard B. To its lower end is secured asmaller rod, E,which is also secured to the treadle F, which is hingedto one leg of the treadle-frame, its front end working in and steadiedby a slotted guide, A, through the top and bottom of which pass setscrews a a, for purposes hereinafter mentioned. The

said rod E is encircled for a portion of its length by a coil-spring, Ethe lower end of which is secured to the rod, while its upper end bearsagainst a plate, 0, seated in an annular recess, I), in standard 13.

The reciprocating rod E carries at its upper end an arm, G, which curvesupwardly and is bent at a right angle to the axis of the rod, as seen inFigs. 1 and 2. To the horizontal por tion of this arm is attached theplunger H, (see Figs. 1, 2, and 14,) which is beveled on its edges andworks between correspondinglybeveled guideways Ilsecured to thehorizontal portion of bracket 13, (see Figs. 2, 3, 6, and 14,) the upperends of said ways being secured to a cross-bar, i, on the rear side, asseen in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and full lines in Fig. 2.

J J represent the loop forming and clinching dies. The upper end of eachof these dies is rounded, as at 1, and fits loosely in acorrespondingly'shaped recess in the front side of plunger Hat its lowerend, so as to be free to swing therein, being held in place in theplunger by a faceplate, 2, secured to the plunger by a screw, 3, as seenin Figs. 6 and 7. At the lower end, on the inner side, these dies areeach recessed, so as to form jaws 4, between which the wire is clampedto form the loop for receiving the shank of the button, and below thejaws they are shouldered, as at 5, so as to press on top of the stapleon each side of its loop to drive it through the fabric and clinch thepoints, all as seen in Fig. 19. The

\ jaws and shoulders are grooved on the inner edges, as at 6, Fig. 6, soas to prevent the sta ple slipping outof position. Aspring, j, keeps thedies normally apart.

In Figs. 10, 11, and 12 I have shown the guides for the dies, thebutton-shank, and the wire; in Fig. 8, a front view of portions of themachine with these guides detached; and in Fig. 9 a like view with theguides in position, but with the cap-plate, hereinafter described,omitted. These guides K K consist each of two front plates, k, and tworear plates, 7.: 73. Plate k is perforated at 7 for the passage of thestapleforming wire to, and it is also beveled on its under side from itsinner edge, as at 8, in order to admit the beveled front end of theknife Q, so as to cut the wire on aslant.

"Plate 7c is recessed on its inner edge, as at 9,

(see Fig. 9,) to receive the free end of the wire, the recess beingelongated in order to allow the end of the wire to describe an arc of acircle, as it must necessarily do while being bent to form the staple.Both plates and khave inwardly-sloping shoulders 10 at their lower endsfor forcing the dies J J together,and thus forming the loop in thestaple, as seen in Fig. 19, the lower ends of said dies being rounded onthe outer sides, so as to ride freely over the shoulders. Plates k and7c are substantially alike, except that the former is cut out at 11 forthe passage of the cutting end of the knife. They are attached to therear side of the front plates, is is, between which the dies J J areguided, and overlap the inner sides of the front plates, leaving justsuflieient space between for the passage of the shank of the button. Theupper ends of the overhanging portions of therear plates are curvedrearwardly, so as to lie in the path of the button-feeding mechanism andtake the button as it is fed forward, as seen in Figs. 9, 10, and 11.

L, Fig. 17, represents the cap-plate above alluded to, which is attachedto the ways I I over' the guides K K. This plate will be fully describedin connection with the bending-die and bending-block.

M represents the bending-block, on which the wire is bent to form thestaple. It is formed integral with a slide, M, of the form shown in Fig.16, which works on a ledge, 12, on the cap-plate, and is held in placeon said ledge by a spring, 13, secured to one of the ways I. I

N represents the bendingdie, comprising two horizontal legs, a, adaptedto straddle the bending-block, and a vertical arm, n. This arm isslotted, as at 14, and its upper end is curved forward, as clearly seenin Figs. 6, 7, and 16. The legs of this die work in and are guided byguideways 15, and the slotted arm n fits over a cam projection, 16, onthe capplate. Legs 17, formed integral with guideways 15, prevent thebending-block slide from tipping while the block is being moved out ofthe way of the clinching-dies, as hereinafter explained. The legs of thedie are notched on the under side near their outer ends, as at 18, forthe purpose of preventing the wirefrom slipping while being bent. To apin, 19, on the bending-die is attached one end of a coilspring, 20,inclosed in a casing, 21, attached to one of the ways I.

O and O are two friction-rolls for feeding the wire to form the staples,the wire being taken from a reel, 22, mounted in a casing, 23. Roll 0 isprovided with ratchet-teeth, with which a pawl, 24, pivoted to a cam,25, en gages, the pawl being steadied by a guard, 26, rigidly attachedto the can]. The cam is pivoted to one of the guideways I in suchposition as to lie normally in the path of a finger, 27, adjustablysecured to the plunger, as seen in Fig. 1. By the adjustability of thisfinger all lost motion occasioned by wear of the ratchet may be avoided.

In order to regulate the tension of the feed rolls on the wire, thelower roll, 0, is journaled in a right-angular bar, 28, to which isrigidly fixed a vertical arm, 29, that slides up and down in a two-armsupport, 8, attached to bracket B said arm having aninternallyscrew-threaded lug, 80, which is located between the arms 31and 32 of the support 8. The upper arm, 81, extends outward considerablybeyond arm 32, and is perforated for the free passage of ascrew-threaded bolt, 33, which screws into the threaded lug 30, and acoil-spring, 34, encircles the bolt between its IOC head and the top ofarm 31. It follows that by thisconstruction the lower roll presses the'wire between it and the upper roll byspringpressure, and that thispressure can be read ily andaccurately adjusted by simply turning thebolt.

.Q represents the knife, the forward end of which is beveled outwardly,as seen in several of the views, so as to work close into guide K andcut the wire on a slant, and its forward end is also beveled rearwardlyon the under side, as clearly shown in Fig. 13, so as to give ashearcut. crating-arm, Q, pivoted to bracket B and oscillated to operate theknife by a cam, It, having a flange, r, througlra slot in which it isadjustably secured to arm G. Being thus adj ustable, as thecontact-surfaces of the cam are worn by the knife-arm the cam can beraised or lowered, so as to make the knife out sooner or later, asrequired.

The mechanism I have'devised for feeding the buttons into the machinesingly by positive motions is very simple, as will be seen on referenceto Figs. 14 and 15, wherein S represents a trough of a width at the topto permit the buttons to rest and slide onits edges,as clearly shown inFig. 15. One side of the trough at its lower end is cut away, as at 35,for a purpose presently to be explained. The trough is secured in aninclined position by any suitable means to the rear side of one of theguide ways I, with its lower end resting directly over the curved upperends of the rear plat-es, 76 117 of guides K K,and in front of abuttonholding spring, T, the upper end of which is secured to one end ofa horizontal bar, t, secured to the rear side of one of the guideways I.In the trough there is a wire, 10, on which the buttons are strung, itslower end terminating directly over the space between the guide-platesin If, so that as the side of the trough is cut away at 35 a button,onreaching the end of the wire, will drop with its shank in the openingbetween the said platesk it, when it will be in position to be drivenhome onto the bending-block on the descent of the plunger by means ofafeed-finger, U, attached to the rear side thereof, as seen in fulllines in Figs. 6 and 7 and in dotted lines in Fig. 14. The wire w isheld in place in trough S by a double-flanged button v fitting in anotch in the closed upper end of the trough. A toothed wheel, IV,grooved on its periphery, is attached to the guideway 1 directly underthe trough and in such position that its teeth will, pass into itthrough a slot, 36, in its under side. The wheel is revolved bymeans ofa gravity-pawl, V, attached through a slot to the way I, one end of saidpawl engaging the teeth of the wheel and its other end being engaged bythe feed-finger in its upward movement to draw the pawl up, and thusturn the wheel the distance of one tooth. As the wheel revolves, itsteeth engage. the shanks of v the buttons, and thus feed the buttonsdown Theknifeis provided with an op 1 the trough and in front of thebutton spring T and between the guide-plates k? it one at a time. I I Y.By the adjustability of the treadle I have attained two valuableresults-that is to say, by the lower set-screws I am enabled to limitthe descent of the plunger and its attached dies to suit any thicknessof fabric, and by the upper setscrews I can so regulate the upwardmovement of the reciprocating rod as to avoid all concussion in theupper portion of the machine. 7 y

The operation of my machine is as follows: Assuming there is a button inposition on the bending-block, a downward pressure on the treadle willpull down the reciprocating rod E, with its attached arm G, that carriesthe plunger H and cam R, and as the finger 27, attached to theplunger,bears down on the cam 25 the latter is swung on its pivot farenough around to clear the path of the finger, which causes pawl 24 toturn roll 0, and by friction roll 0, the space of one' tooth, andthereby feed the wire through the eye of the button. The downwardmovement of camR will rock the knife arm, and thus cause'the knife tosever the wire, by which time the loop forming and clinching dies J Jwill have reached the legs n at of the bending=die N. Then as dies J Jcontinue to descend they will force the bending-die down onto the wireover the bending-block M (the'notch es 18 in the legs of said dieengaging thewire to hold it'steady) and continue forcing it downwarduntil the wire has been bent down the sides of the block, as seen indotted lines in Fig. 16, by which time the outwardly-curved upper end ofarm n of the bending-die will have reached the cam projection 16 on thecaprplate L, which will cause the bending-die to swing outward, carryingwith it, against the stress ofspring 13, the slide M, on which thebendingblock is formed, as seen in Fig. 7, which is prevented from tipping during this movement bythe lugs 17 on the cap-plate. It will beobserved that the bending-block is thus moved forwardjust out of thepath of the dies J J, and in order toavoid the necessity of moving itany farther forwardI groove it on its rear side, as at 38, for thepassage of the button-shank, as seen. in- Figs. 6 and 7, there beingalso a groove, 39, in the top of the block for the receptionof the shankwhile the staple is being formed. As.

the block recedes, the ends of the staple come into contact with twostuds, 40, at the rear of ledge 12 on the cap-plate L, and the staple isthereby stripped from the block. Further downward movement of the loopforming and clinching dies J J carries thebutton and staple down ontothe fabricf on anvil D, and as the points of the staple enter the fabricthe rounded ends of the dies J J come in contact with the shoulders 10,formed on the guide-platesk k, which cause said dies in their descent tobe forced together,-'whereby the jaws 4 4 clamp the wireon each side ofthe button shank be-,

tween them, and thus form the loop. By this time the points of thestaple have passed through the fabric and are in concavities d in thetop of the anvil, and are clinched inward by the shoulders 5 on the diesbearing on the top of the staple. The button being now secured, the diesJ J begin their upward movement, and when their lower ends have passedthe bending-block the latter is forced back into its normal position byspringl3 and the bending-die is carried upward by the coilspring 20. Asplunger H moves upward it carries with it the attached feed-ii nger U,upon the end of which is formed a small hook, it, which catches underthe curved end of the gravity-pawl V, thereby raising it the length ofits slot, which is sufficient to turn the buttonfeeding wheel anothertooth, which forces the next button off the end of wire 8 and in frontof the button-spring T, in position to be forced down onto thebending-block on the return of the feed-fingcr.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my machine, whatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a button-fastening machine, substantially as described, thecombination, with a guide for the button, rolls for feeding a wirethrough the eye of the button, a knife for severing the wire, abending-block over which the wire is bent to form a staple,and an anvil,of a wire-bending die and a pair of loop forming and clinching dies, thelatter adapted to form a loop in the staple for the shank of the buttonand to clinch the staple on the under side of the fabric.

2. The combination, with a guide for the button, rolls for feeding awire through the eye of the button, a knife for severing the Wire, abending-block over which the wire is bent to form a staple, and ananvil, ofa wire-bending die, a plunger, ways for guiding the plunger,and a pair of loop forming and clinching dies attached to the plunger,adapted to form a loop for the shank of the button and to clinch thestaple on the under surface of the fabric, all arranged to operatesubstantially as de scribed.

3; In abutton-fastening machine constructed as described, a pair of loopforming and clinching dies hinged at their upper ends to the plunger andformed at their lower ends with jaws for forming the loop in the stapleand shoul ders for pressing upon the staple to clinch it. suitable meansfor pressing the dies toward each other on their descent, and a springbetween them for pressing them apart on their ascent, all combined inthe manner set forth.

4. In abutton-fastening machine constructed as described, the slidecarrying the bendingblock, the ledge on which the slide rests, a springbearing against the slide, the bendingdie having a verticallyslotted andoutwardlycurved arm, a cam projection over which said arm is placed, anda spring for elevating the bending-die, whereby said die and thebending-block are caused to clear the path of the loop forming andclinching dies on their descent and to assume their normal positions onthe upward movement of said dies, the whole combined in the manner setforth.

5. Inabutton-fastening machine constructed as described, the slidecarrying the bending block, the ledge on which the slide rests, providedat its rear with studs for stripping the staple from the block as thelatter moves for ward, a spring bearing against the slide, thebending-die having a vertically-slotted and outwardly-curved arm, a camprojection over which said arm is placed, and a spring for elevating thebending-die, the whole combined and operating in the manner described.

6. In a button-fastening machine, substantially as described, thecombination, with the wire-feeding rolls, a cam pivoted above saidrolls, and a pawl pivoted to said cam and engaging with ratchet-teeth onone of the rolls and the plunger, of a finger secured to the plunger andengaging with the cam in such manner as to swing it out of its path, andthereby cause the pawl to turn the feed-rolls.

7. In a button-fastening machine, substantially as described, thecombination, with the wire-feeding rolls, a cam pivoted above saidrolls, and a pawl pivoted to said cam and engaging with ratchet-teeth onone of the rolls and the plunger, of a finger adj ustably se cured tothe plunger and engaging with the cam, whereby lost motion in theratchet mechanism may be taken up.

8. In a button-fastening machine, the combination, with the wire feedingrolls, of a wire-guiding plate having a slanting perfora tion for thepassage of the wire and beveled off at its inner rear edge, as shown, aknife whose front end is beveled outwardly to correspond with the bevelon said guide-plate and rearwardly on the under side in order to make ashear cut, and suitable mechanism for operating the knife, substantiallyas described.

9. In a button-fastening machine, substantially as described, thecombination, with the reciprocating rod and thearm attached thereto, ofthe knife and its operating-arm pivoted to a stationary part of themachine, and a cam attached to the arm on the reciprocating rod withwhich the knife-arm engages, whereby in the reciprocations of the rodthe knife is operated to sever the staple-forming wire.

10. In a button-fastening machine, substantially as described, thecombination, with the reciprocating rod and the arm attached thereto, ofthe knife and its operatingarm pivoted to a stationary part of themachine, and a cam adj ustably secured to the arm on the reciprocatingrod with which the knife-arm engages, whereby the knife may be made toout sooner or later, as required.

11. The combination, with the buttonguiding plates and a spring in rearof said plates for holding the button in position, of an inclined troughleading tosaid guides, having a slot in its under side and provided witha lonbutton-guides,and are then forced down to the 10 gitudinal wire onwhich the buttons are strung, bending-block.

a toothed wheel journaled below said trough, In testimony whereof Iafiiix my signature in its teeth passing through the slot in the troughpresence of two witnesses.

and engaging with the shanks of the buttons T on the wire, suitablemechanism for rotating ALBERT GLEASOL' said wheel, the plunger, and afeed-finger at- Witnesses: tached to the plunger, whereby the buttonsALBERT SPEIDEN, are first fed positively, one at a time, to the G. W.BALLOGH.

